TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Pakistani politician disclosed that members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group are fighting beside the ISIL members in Syria and Iraq, receiving money from the terrorist group.

"The fighters of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are very tough and cruel similar to the ISIL terrorists and they are dispatched to Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan," Senior Leader of Pakistan People's Party Nahid Khan told FNA on Sunday.

She disclosed that Jamat al-Ahrar, Pakistan's Taliban, Jundollah and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are all collaborators in sending militants to different states, specially the countries in which the ISIL is present.

"Given the large amount of financial aid sent to the militants in Syria, most of the Pakistani militias prefer the country for joining the terrorist groups," Nahid Khan said.

Militants and Pakistani security officials said in 2014 that the ISIL has contacts with the banned Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

"The top leadership of LeJ visited Saudi Arabia and met ISIL leaders at an undisclosed location at Saudi-Iraq border," one militant said at the time.

He said the meeting took place in 2013.

A leaked government memo warned in 2014 that the ISIL had recruited 10,000-12,000 fighters inside Pakistan.

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UK radical preacher Anjem Choudary found guilty of supporting ISIS

Reuters | Aug 16, 2016

LONDON: Anjem Choudary, Britain's most high-profile Islamist preacher whose followers have been linked to numerous plots across the world, has been found guilty of inviting support for the Islamic State.

Choudary, 49, was convicted at London's Old Bailey court of using online lectures and messages to encourage support for the banned group which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq.

Notorious in Britain where the tabloids denounce him as a hate preacher, he is also well-known abroad, making regular TV appearances in the wake of attacks by Islamist militants to blame Western foreign policy for targeting Muslims.

"These men have stayed just within the law for many years, but there is no one within the counterterrorism world that has any doubts of the influence that they have had, the hate they have spread and the people that they have encouraged to join terrorist organisations," said Dean Haydon, head of London police's Counter Terrorism Command.

Prosecutors said that in postings on social media, Choudary and his close associate Mizanur Rahman, 33, had pledged allegiance to the "caliphate" declared by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and said Muslims had a duty to obey or provide support to him.

Both men, who had denied the terrorism charges and claimed the case was politically motivated, were found guilty last month but their convictions could not be reported until Tuesday for legal reasons. They are due to be sentenced in September and could face a jail sentence of up to 10 years each.

Choudary, the former head of the now banned organization al-Muhajiroun, became infamous for praising the men responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the United States and saying he wanted to convert Buckingham Palace into a mosque.

Despite his often controversial comments and refusal to condemn attacks by Islamists such as the London 2005 bombings, Choudary has always denied any involvement in militant activity and had never been previously charged with any terrorism offence.

Rahman served two years in jail for encouraging followers to kill British and American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq during a protest in 2006.

Breeding ground for militants

Al-Muhajiroun has been regarded as a breeding ground for militants since it was founded in the late 1990s by Syrian-born Islamist cleric Omar Bakri, who was banished from Britain in 2005, and was banned under anti-terrorist laws in 2010.

Police said it was suspected of being the driving force behind the London bombings while Michael Adebolajo, one of the men who hacked to death British soldier Lee Rigby on a London street in 2013, had attended protests Choudary had organised.

Last year, the trial of a teenage Muslim convert found guilty of plotting to behead a soldier in London was told he had fallen in with al-Muhajiroun.

The group's influence is said to extend far beyond Britain. Those connected to it include Abu Hamza al-Masri, jailed for life in the United States last year for terrorism-related offences.

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the gunman who shot and killed a soldier in Canada's capital and then stormed parliament in 2014, followed Choudary on Twitter, although the preacher told Reuters at the time he had no links to him.

"Over and over again we have seen people on trial for the most serious offences who have attended lectures or speeches given by these men," Haydon said in a statement.

Both Choudary and Rahman say they abide by a "covenant of security" which forbids Muslims from carrying out attacks in non-Muslim lands where their lives and wellbeing are protected.

"We're living in a global community and no doubt Muslims around the world who have their eye on what's happening in Syria and Iraq or want to know about the sharia (law) will come across us at one point or another," Choudary told Reuters in 2014.

"That does not mean that we're encouraging people to carry out any acts of terrorism."

The death toll from a deadly attack on a wedding party in Turkey has climbed to at least 50 people as another 94 people were wounded.

According to the government officials in Gaziantep where the incident took place, an explosion targeted the wedding party at around 11pm local time on Saturday in the Akdere neighborhood of Sahin Bey district.

Gaziantep governor Ali Yerlikaya called the attack on the wedding party a ‘terror attack’.

Mehmet Simsek, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, told NTV that the explosion appeared to have been caused by a suicide bomber.

No group has so far claimed responsibility behind the incident but the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group for the attack.

“Daesh is the likely perpetrator of the attack,” he said, using the Arabic name for the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) group.

Erdogan further added “Our country and our nation have again only one message to those who attack us: You will not succeed!”

A major city lying just 60km north of the Syrian border, Gaziantep has become a hub for Syrians fleeing the civil war in their country.

NASIRIYAH: Iraq on Sunday hanged 36 men convicted over the 2014 massacre by Sunni jihadists and allied militants of hundreds of military recruits, officials said.

They had been found guilty of involvement in the "Speicher" massacre, named after a base near Tikrit where up to 1,700 recruits were kidnapped before being executed in a massacre claimed by the Islamic State group.

"The executions of 36 convicted over the Speicher crime were carried out this morning in Nasiriyah prison," a spokesman for the governor's office in Dhiqar, the province of which Nasiriyah is the capital, told AFP.

"The governor of Dhiqar, Yahya al-Nasseri and Justice Minister Haidar al-Zamili were present to oversee the executions," Abdelhassan Dawood said.

"They were transferred to Nasiriyah last week after the president approved the executions," he said, referring to the necessary green light from Fuad Masum.

Following the death of more than 300 people in the worst ever single bomb attack to strike Baghdad last month, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had said he wanted to expedite the execution of inmates sentenced to death in terrorism cases.

The Dhiqar governor confirmed to AFP that the executions were carried out by hanging.

His spokesman said that around 400 of the Speicher massacre victims were from the Dhiqar province, which is predominantly Shiite and located in Iraq's south.

"Tens of relatives attended the executions," said Dawood. "They shouted Allahu Akbar (God is greatest), they were happy to see those people dead."

The trials that have led to Iraq's latest batches of death sentences have been severely criticised by rights groups as failing to meet basic standards.

Amnesty International had slammed Iraq's systematic resort to the death penalty following the execution of 22 other people in May this year.

"The use of the death penalty is deplorable in all circumstances, and it is particularly horrendous when applied after grossly unfair trials marred by allegations of confessions extracted under torture as is frequently the case in Iraq," the group's Iraq researcher Diana Eltahawy said.

The United Nations had criticised Abadi's call to speed up executions, which according to Amnesty already topped 100 for 2016 before Sunday's hangings.

"Fast-tracking executions will only accelerate injustice," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said earlier this month.

The Speicher massacre is considered one of IS's worst crimes since it took over large parts of the country in 2014.

Combined with a call by the country's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for Iraqis to take up arms against them, the Speicher massacre played a key role in the mass recruitment of Shiite volunteers to fight the jihadists.

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Pakistani politician disclosed that members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group are fighting beside the ISIL members in Syria and Iraq, receiving money from the terrorist group.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950531000695

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Sindh cabinet approves draft bill to regulate seminaries under NAP

August 21st, 2016

KARACHI: The Sindh cabinet approved a draft of the Sindh Madressah Registration Bill, 2016 at its meeting on Saturday. The bill encompasses all issues concerning the seminaries in Sindh that require to be taken care of by the National Action Plan (NAP), officials said.

They added that the draft bill had been approved by the cabinet, but a committee, headed by the chief minister’s adviser on law, Murtaza Wahab, was constituted to finalise the draft law after meeting religious scholars and legal experts before it was tabled in the Sindh Assembly after 15 days.

The provincial cabinet meeting was presided over by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the New Sindh Secretariat.

ISLAMABAD: Ignoring India's offer to hold talks on cross-border terrorism, Pakistan on Friday invited foreign secretary S Jaishankar to Islamabad by the end of this month to discuss Kashmir dispute "as per the UN Security Council Resolutions".

Upping the ante, it called for an immediate end to "human rights violations in Kashmir" and sought permission for Pakistani doctors and paramedics to travel to the state.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman said its foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry had given a reply to Jaishankar's proposal for talks on cross-border terror. The reply was handed over to Indian high commissioner Gautam Bambwale by Chaudhry in Islamabad.

LAHORE: Pakistan is investigating another Mumbai attack suspect, who has recently been arrested, for allegedly providing financial assistance to the LeT men to carry out the deadly assault in 2008.

"The FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) has arrested Sufyan Zafar recently and is interrogating him for his role in providing financial assistance to the accused of the Mumbai attack - who are lodged in the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi," FIA special prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar told PTI on Friday.

He said Zafar was absconding after being declared proclaimed offender in the Mumbai case.

LONDON: Anjem Choudary, Britain's most high-profile Islamist preacher whose followers have been linked to numerous plots across the world, has been found guilty of inviting support for the Islamic State.

Choudary, 49, was convicted at London's Old Bailey court of using online lectures and messages to encourage support for the banned group which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq.

ALGIERS: Mosques are going up, women are covering up, and shops selling alcoholic beverages are shutting down in a changing Algeria where, slowly but surely, Muslim fundamentalists are gaining ground.

The North African country won its civil war with extremists who brought Algeria to its knees in the name of Islam during the 1990s. Yet authorities show little overt concern about the growing grip of Salafis, who apply a strict brand of the Muslim faith.

Algerians favouring the trend see it as a benediction, while critics worry that the rise of Salafism, a form of Islam that interprets the Quran literally, may seep deeper into social mores and diminish the chances for a modern Algeria that values freedom of choice.

Russia has expressed concerns regarding a truce allegedly reached between the Taliban group and the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in Afghanistan.

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, has said the truce between ISIS terrorist group and the Taliban group is worrying as the situation deteriorates on political and security level in the country.

The death toll from a deadly attack on a wedding party in Turkey has climbed to at least 50 people as another 94 people were wounded.

According to the government officials in Gaziantep where the incident took place, an explosion targeted the wedding party at around 11pm local time on Saturday in the Akdere neighborhood of Sahin Bey district.

ISTANBUL: Turkey will take a more active role in addressing the conflict in Syria in the next six months to prevent the war-torn country being divided along ethnic lines, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday.

Yildirim also told a group of reporters in Istanbul that while Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could have a role in the interim leadership, he must play no part in its future.

The National Intelligence Agency (MİT) will be restructured in the wake of the failed July 15 coup attempt, believed to have been masterminded by the Fetullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said.

ANKARA: The Turkish parliament approved a deal to normalise ties with Israel after a delay caused by last month’s attempted coup, state-run media reported on Saturday.

Lawmakers ratified late on Friday the agreement to restore relations between the two former close regional allies after a six-year rift, before parliament was due to go into summer recess.

Under the deal, Israel will pay Turkey $20 million in compensation for a botched Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship in 2010 that left 10 Turks dead, state-run Anadolu news agency said.

NASIRIYAH: Iraq on Sunday hanged 36 men convicted over the 2014 massacre by Sunni jihadists and allied militants of hundreds of military recruits, officials said.

They had been found guilty of involvement in the "Speicher" massacre, named after a base near Tikrit where up to 1,700 recruits were kidnapped before being executed in a massacre claimed by the Islamic State group.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iraqi fighter jets pounded a command center of the ISIL in the city of Mosul, killing several terrorist commanders.

At least 19 ISIL terrorists were killed in the Iraqi air raids Meisaq district of Mosul city.

The ISIL commanders had gathered for a meeting in Mosul city's Meisaq district.

On Saturday, informed security sources in Nineveh disclosed that over two dozen oil tankers of the ISIL terrorist group have been destroyed in an airstrike in the Southern part of the province.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950531000565

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Kurd-Syrian army battle complicating multi-fronted war

August 21st, 2016

BEIRUT: Fighting between the Syrian army and Kurdish forces intensified late on Friday and into Saturday, creating the risk of yet another front opening in the multi-sided civil war.

The two sides have mostly avoided confrontation during the five-year conflict, with the government focusing its efforts against Sunni Arab rebels in the west, and the Kurds mainly fighting the militant Islamic State group in northern Syria.

In an indication of their reluctance to escalate further, pro-government media said on Saturday they had held preliminary peace talks.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian army soldiers and popular forces continued their advances against Jeish al-Fatah terrorists near a strategic village in the Southwestern side of military academy buildings, inflicting major losses on the militants.

The Syrian government forces, who captured Um al-Qara'a earlier this morning, continued to beat back militants and move towards hills overlooking the village of al-Sharafeh.

Jeish al-Fatah suffered a major death toll in the attacks and left behind its military equipment and retreated from more positions.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iraqi security forces have laid siege on the ISIL terrorists in an area near al-Khalediya Island.

Over 60 ISIL militants who have hidden in tunnels and houses in a location between the cities of Fallujah and al-Ramadi in Anbar province have come under the Iraqi security forces' siege.

The Iraqi forces are preparing themselves to attack the ISIL terrorists who have fled Al-Khalediya Island.

Full report at: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950531000652

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Brother of Omran, Syrian boy in haunting picture, dies

PTI | Aug 21, 2016

BEIRUT: The older brother of the little Syrian boy, who was pictured sitting in an ambulance dazed and covered in blood after an air strike, died from wounds sustained in the attack on the family's apartment, a monitoring group has said.

"Ali, aged 10, succumbed to his injuries. He was badly wounded in the same bombardment as Omran on August 17 in Aleppo," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian Army has deployed a large number of advanced-version of T85 and T34 tanks to the battlefields across the country to intensify attacks on terrorists groups' defense liens, military sources said Sunday.

"The older versions of these tanks were the legend of Russia' war against Germany in 1941-1945 and played very crucial role in the Russian army's victory over Hitler," the sources said, adding, "But the most modern versions of these tanks are now used in war against terrorism in Syria."

"Russia has equipped T85 and T34 tanks with the cutting-edged reconnaissance and combat equipment," they added.

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DM: Iran Plans to Build Supersonic Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles Soon

Aug 21 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan announced the country's plan to produce supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles in the near future.

"We have been able to increase the missiles' speed and God willing, we will build supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles in the near future," General Dehqan said, addressing a ceremony to unveil Iran's first turbojet engine in Tehran on Sunday.

DHAKA: A new militant outfit, aligned to the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB), has prepared a list of local Hindus and secularists, and finalised plans to kill a Hindu doctor, police said.

The Ansar Rajshahi outfit has finalised plans to kill Nirendranath Sarker. The members communicate with each other through a secured messaging application, police said.

The outfit has prepared a list of local Hindus and secularists who they plan to target.

Absconding JMB leader Shariful Islam Khalid, a Rajshahi University student who was involved in the murder of his teacher Rezaul Karim in April this year, is one of the organisers of the Ansar Rajshahi, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

KABUL: Afghan security forces regained control of Khan Abad district, Kunduz province which was seized by Taliban militants, police said on Sunday.

"The security forces launched a counter-attack on Saturday afternoon and forced the Taliban out of district centre by the night," provincial police Chief Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh told Xinhua news agency.

Inside the Pentagon’s 9/11 memorial chapel, built where Islamic extremists attacked the building nearly 15 years ago, sounds of the Muslim call to prayer softly welcome passersby at around 2:00 p.m. each day.

The prayer service is led by Dawud Agbere, one of five Muslim Army chaplains or imams. Since being stationed at the Pentagon, Agbere leads afternoon prayer to give fellow Muslims a chance to connect with their creator.

RIYADH: The US military has slashed the number of intelligence advisers directly supporting the Saudi-led coalition's air war in Yemen, the US Navy said on Saturday.

The reassignment of personnel, around June, occurred because "there was not the same sort of requests coming in for assistance" from the Saudis, Fifth Fleet spokesman Lieutenant Ian McConnaughey told AFP from Bahrain.

A delegation of four officials from the U.S. will travel to Turkey on Aug. 22 to discuss Ankara’s demand for the extradition of Fethullah Gülen, who Ankara accuses of orchestrating the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey, amid stringed ties between the two NATO allies concerning the issue.

MOGADISHU: At least 10 people were killed when two suicide car bombers attacked the local government headquarters in Somalia's Galkayo town in the semi-autonomous Puntland region on Sunday, police said, and the militant al Shabaab group claimed the attack.

Moroccan King Calls on Diaspora to Reject Islamic Extremism in Rare Direct Message to Expatriates

BY AFP August 21, 2016

RABAT, Morocco — Morocco’s king on Saturday appealed for “a united front against extremism” and urged members of the North African country’s diaspora, many of them in Europe, to defend a tolerant form of Islam.

MUMBAI: Twenty-six-year-old Ashfaque Ahmed's family had no inkling before he, his wife, infant daughter and cousins Mohammed Siraj (22), a businessman, and Ejaz Rehman (30), a medical practitioner, left the country to join the Islamic State (IS) in June.

"This is shocking. Four members of an extended family were inclined to join the banned outfit. We are questioning preacher Mohammed Haneef+ , now in crime branch custody, about his role in instigating Ashfaque and others to join IS," said a crime branch officer.

In the last week of June, Ashfaque's youngest brother received a message on his mobile from him, saying he had migrated to IS territory and did not want to come back. "Take care of mother and father," read the last line.

NEW DELHI: As a growing power, India has a role to play in meeting the challenge of terrorism, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said as the two countries agreed to upgrade their security consultations.

Assad made the assertion during a meeting with Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar when the latter called on him yesterday during his Syria visit.

NEW DELHI: The mastermind behind the Holey Artisan attack in Dhaka+ and the murder of English professor Rezaul Karim at Rajshahi university is fugitive Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leader Mohammed Suleiman, a key Islamic State operative held in India has revealed.

SRINAGAR: Army on Sunday foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Tangdhar sector of Kashmir, killing three militants who were involved in an attack on a BSF post in the area two days ago.

"Army foiled an infiltration bid in Tangdhar sector of Kupwara district. Three terrorists have been killed in the operation," an army official said.

He said the slain militants were involved in the attack on a BSF post in Tangdhar sector on August 19 in which three jawans of the force were injured.

"Three weapons and other war-like stores have been recovered from the scene of the gunbattle," the official said adding the combing operation was still in progress.

AMRITSAR: Ahead of Union finance minister Arun Jaitley's Amritsar visit, the security agencies in border districts of Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Amritsar are on their toes following interception of a phone call from Pakistan suggesting movement of some suspects. Pathankot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rakesh Kaushal told TOI on Saturday that they had received an alert about interception of a phone call wherein caller was inviting someone to reach Pathankot or Dinanagar taking benefit of heavy truck movement.

Nation wants to see pen, computers in hands of Kashmir youth, not stones and firearms: Home Minister

ANI | Aug 20, 2016

SHAHJAHANPUR: In an attempt to reach out to the youth of Kashmir, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday insisted that India wants to see pens and computers in their hands and not stones and firearms.

Addressing a gathering here as a part of the 70th Independence Day celebrations 'Yaad Karo Qurbani' to pay tribute to freedom fighters, Singh said, "The people of this country want to see pens and computers in the hands of Kashmiri youth and not stones and firearms. We want to see employment in your hand. We want to see you working hard."

"There can be no solution by protests. We first want that peace is established in the valley and only after that we can mutually find a solution. The people of this country not only love the land of Kashmir but the Kashmiri people as well," he added.

No compromise with those indulging in violence in Kashmir, says Arun Jaitley

PTI | Aug 21, 2016

JAMMU: As unrest continues in Kashmir+ , the central government on Sunday outlined its priorities+ , asserting that there will be no compromise with those indulging in violence+ even efforts will be made for development of the state which was "denied" for the last 60 years.

Acknowledging that situation in Kashmir was "serious", Union minister Arun Jaitley said those indulging in stone-pelting+ in Kashmir are "not satyagrahis but aggressors" who target police and security forces but some people with limited vision cannot see this.

Addressing a rally on the outskirts of Jammu city, he also slammed Pakistan+ for the current unrest, saying it was "attacking the integrity of India" in a "new way" after failing to snatch the state by waging wars and fuelling trouble ever since partition in 1947.

Muslim leaders in Singapore call for all Islamic teachers to be registered

Sun, August 21 2016

Muslim leaders in Singapore have called for a scheme that endorses religious teachers to be made stricter, amid the spread of extremist ideology on the Internet that has led to the radicalisation of some Singaporeans.

They want all asatizah to be registered with the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS), started in 2005 to help Muslim Singaporeans assess and recognise qualified religious teachers.

Jakarta. At least 177 Indonesian hajj pilgrims were intercepted and detained by immigration officials at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila on Friday (19/08) for attempting to travel to Saudi Arabia on forged Philippine passports.

During an immigration check, airport authorities discovered that none of the Indonesians, who were about to board Philippine Airlines flight PR-8969 to Madinah, were able to speak any local languages or dialects, such as Tagalog, Maranao, Cebuano or Maguindanao.

"They allegedly used forged passports that were provided by a syndicate in the Philippines," Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' director for the protection of Indonesian citizens abroad, said in Jakarta on Saturday.